Round Six, Act One
Death Canyon has only just arrived on the battlefield but, it seems, the porygon is already eager to leave. It stares up at the legends for a moment, head rotating slowly as it thinks, and then, abruptly, gives up on its fight against gravity.
Death Canyon and its former passengers plummet and, high above, a ripple of shock passes through Giratina's gaseous form. The green smear in the air that marks its position slithers downwards, but Death Canyon is falling much faster than it can flow. Frustration sends literal bubbles through the spectre-dragon's body, but the anger only goes to fuel its psychic abilities; it's just going to have to take its shot and hope for the best. It's a chancy shot to make, but the legend lashes out with a telekinetic snare nonetheless--and its aim proves true. Death Canyon slams to a halt as Giratina's psychic powers freeze it in place, and once it's gotten over the shock, it is quick to restore the levitation that had been keeping the humans afloat. The four of them hang suspended some ways below the battlefield--they can hardly make out Mewtwo and Darkrai, but Death Canyon's swift, pessimistic analysis is that they haven't gone far enough to be out of danger.
The truth of this assessment is driven home a moment later when Mewtwo appears, with no more than a faint fizz of psychic energy, not three feet from Death Canyon, its substitute perched on its shoulders with its tail draped lazily around its master's neck.
The legend favors Death Canyon with a smirk.
Welcome to the battlefield, my synthetic friend. It seems you've got yourself in a bit of a bind already. Perhaps you'd care for a little assistance?
The porygon-z lets out a blast of angry binary, and Mewtwo tilts its head to one side as it listens to the whistles and clicks.
Well, I've heard politer greetings, but I suppose your rudeness is understandable. Now, look here. I have just the item to help you out of your bind. The legend raises a fist and rocks it back and forth in front of Death Canyon's face. The porygon verbalizes another string of zeroes and ones that suggest that Mewtwo might put the proffered item somewhere uncomfortable. The legend laughs and holds its fist above its head, still concealing whatever is clutched within.
Don't believe me? You're making a mistake, my friend. This here is a thing of great power, surely enough to break you out of that telekinesis--and I imagine it would come in mighty handy even after that. Here--want to see?
Death Canyon doesn't have much choice when Mewtwo shoves its fist into the porygon's face, but it can't quite suppress its interest in the mysterious item, and its head floats forward a tad, its eyes spinning gently with curiosity. Almost immediately, Mewtwo yanks its hand away from the porygon-z's bill.
Ah, ah, ah. Now, I can't just let something this good go for free, now can I? But I'll make you an excellent deal. That chesto berry there? It's practically a donation, but out of the goodness of my heart, I'll accept it as payment. What do you say?
It's a pity Death Canyon wasn't around to see the fall of Lurline. Like the sableye before it, the porygon is sorely tempted and, with Mewtwo's psychic meddling at work, receives no advice upon turning to its trainer. Yes, it
seems too good to be true, but what if it isn't? And what is a chesto berry, anyway? Some $2 item slapped on at the last minute, nothing rare or powerful about it at all. As Death Canyon watches, Mewtwo's fingers tighten around its mystery trinket, and blue lightning crackles and snaps around its fist.
Well? This offer won't be on the table forever. I've got a battle to fight here, after all. Death Canyon's head spins in agitation, but as Mewtwo shrugs, its tail lashing as though it intends to propel itself upwards, the porygon-z makes a quick decision and tosses its chesto berry in the legend's direction. Mewtwo snatches it out of the air with a broad smile, then draws closer to Death Canyon, proffering his still-clenched fist.
Ah, excellent! I knew you'd come around eventually. A wise choice, my little friend, wise indeed. And now for your prize. It's... the legend turns its hand palm-up and uncurls its fingers to reveal--
...absolutely nothing! Thanks, sucker; we couldn't have done it without you. Now--are you ready for the second act? It points upward.
Darkrai has been descending, finding the right altitude that will allow it to pull all its opponents into a dark void, even the distant Death Canyon. This is somewhat below most of the pokémon, but in a moment Mewtwo teleports up to join it, juggling the purloined chesto berry with its tail. The legendaries share a nasty laugh over the incompetence of their opponents, then Darkrai spreads its arms wide, releasing a wave of darkness that rushes out in all directions, pulling all it touches down into the emptiness of nightmare, an emptiness that will only too soon be populated by the darkest conjurations of its victims' subconsciousnesses. For all its anger, Death Canyon has no hope of resisting the black tide of the dark void; it does not go quietly into the encroaching night, but go it does, and its teammates are likewise dragged under.
Ventus swoops away from the reaching tendrils of the dark void, playing a losing game against the billowing wall of blackness that rushes in to swallow her. Anger and frustration surge through the swellow's breast as tendrils of darkness nip at her tailfeathers and horrors whisper from the shadows. She doesn't have time for this! She can still see her target through the dark haze--Darkrai's down there having a jolly good laugh at the lot of them. Well, Ventus isn't going to put up with this nonsense. Orange energy streams from the swellow's wings as she summons all her strength. She banks straight into the onrushing dark void, a spinning starburst of golden energy drilling through the blackness and protecting her from its touch as she plummets, to ram into Darkrai's head with incredible speed. Mewtwo watches with mild interest as its partner is knocked down, hissing furiously, in a flash of brilliant light. Ventus banks away and rockets off to a safe distance while Darkrai flails uselessly at the air, struggling to catch the bird.
You! Why won't you just die? The swellow flings crude taunts back over her shoulder at the furious legend.
By now the dark void has dissipated into empty air, leaving Aries, Ptah, Death Canyon, and Mr. Wonderful in the grips of a tormented slumber--perhaps. The fissures in the spiritomb's keystone glows, the ghost drawn up inside it, but now a questing tendril of gas emerges, testing the air cautiously. Is the nightmare-wave gone? Has Darkrai forgotten about him? Slowly, the whole of Mr. Wonderful's gaseous body unfurls, the spiritomb grinning nastily as he congratulates himself on a well-executed escape. His cheerfulness rapidly dissipates as he takes stock of the field.
Apparently some of his colleagues weren't as prescient as him, and it seems there's no one left to provide his accompaniment. The spiritomb does his best, belting out the loudest trololo Asber has ever heard, but it's still not enough; some of his comrades stir fitfully, but none manages to shake off slumber. Darkrai barely appears to notice the noise, but Mewtwo's substitute seems unusually rattled. It covers Mewtwo's ears with its paws so that the legend can inspect the chesto berry it just picked up in peace, but the buffeting it takes from the round is severe. Blobs of psychic power tear away from its body, giving it a nibbled-on appearance that Mewtwo doesn't find very dignified. The legend shoots Mr. Wonderful an annoyed glance, but doesn't seem overly worried.
Team Legend
Safeguard in play: 4 more actions
Kratos Aurion (O)
Giratina (X) <Prankster>
Health: 807
Energy: 943
Used: Telekinesis @ Death Canyon
- Smug.
Pathos (O)
Darkrai (X) <Bad Dreams>
Health: 700
Energy: 931
Used: Dark Void
- Delighted.
Kusarigamaitachi (O)
Mewtwo (X) <Prankster> @ Chesto Berry
Health: 944
Energy: 927
Used: Trick @ Death Canyon
- Juggling its new chesto berry. Has a substitute with 10% health.
Team Asber
Derpy (O)
Aries (M) <Pressure> @ Sun Stone
Health: 84%
Energy: 64%
Used: Nothing
- Lost in nightmare. Deeply asleep. +3 Defense
Chief Zackrai (O)
Ptah (M) <Hyper Cutter> @ Life Orb
Health: 70%
Energy: 67%
Used: Nothing
- Twitching in his slumber. Deeply asleep.
blazheirio889 (O)
Ventus (F) <Guts> @ Life Orb
Health: 54%
Energy: 52%
Used: Giga Impact @ Darkrai
- Determined.
Wargle (O)
Mr. Wonderful (M) <Pressure> @ Expert Belt
Health: 73%
Energy: 77%
Used: Round
- Warbling away.
Crazy Linoone (O)
Death Canyon (M) <Download>
Health: 97%
Energy: 99%
Used: Nothing
- sleep(randint(1,5)) Deeply asleep.